Weight Watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal

AprilJ10

So I just signed up for weight watchers, I have about 30 pounds to lose. I think i'm going to do weight watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal. I find the points to be cumbersome, but I like what weight watchers promotes, healthy eating and recipes. I also like the idea of the weekly meetings. Fruits and veggies also have no points! I've already stocked the fridge and freezer with fresh fruit and veggies. I have tried to diet a few times before lose a few pounds then go back to eating too much. This time I really need to stick with it for health reasons if nothing else. Would love any feedback from others on their experience with Weight Watchers.

Alatariel75

I was on WW for years and years and years. I found that every time they updated their program, it was less effective.

I don't eat fruit at all (do eat lots of veg) but I just found that making fruit 0PP ridiculous. The calories in a banana take just as much to burn off as the calories in the equivalent amount of chocolate. I think they tell people it's 0PP but to only have 1-2 a day, and I get that it is to encourage people to reach for an apple and not a cookie, but it just seemed like a false economy for me.

They also got REALLY full on about peddling their own brand stuff at meetings, which was so expensive and wasn't any better than other brands you could just get at the supermarket for half the price.

I also found that members at meetings tended to focus on cheating the system a lot, rather than making lifelong sustainable decisions.

The meetings were great for the first while, but I found they never progressed - because there was always newbies, they just rotated through them.

So those were the negatives. But in the positives, it taught me not to demonise food, how to make swaps in recipes and meals which would save on calories but not sacrifice taste, opened my eyes to macros (because it made me look at protein, carbs and fat, not just calories) and taught me that weight loss could be done with ordinary food, not just meal replacements, whacky supplements or any of the other bunk that gets peddled by the indistry. I'm glad I did it, but I can honestly say I don't need it any more.

SLLRunner

AprilJ10 wrote: »

So I just signed up for weight watchers, I have about 30 pounds to lose. I think i'm going to do weight watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal. I find the points to be cumbersome, but I like what weight watchers promotes, healthy eating and recipes. I also like the idea of the weekly meetings. Fruits and veggies also have no points! I've already stocked the fridge and freezer with fresh fruit and veggies. I have tried to diet a few times before lose a few pounds then go back to eating too much. This time I really need to stick with it for health reasons if nothing else. Would love any feedback from others on their experience with Weight Watchers.

If Weight Watchers will help you stay in a calorie deficit, that's wonderful. However, keep in mind that fruits and vegetables contain calories too and eating too much of anything can lead to a surplus of food resulting in weight gain, or at least maintenance.

Good luck.

kyrannosaurus

I am a current WW member (attending meetings). I recently tried to quit but they offered me a free month so I am still going.

I don't track points. It's just as complicated to count calories here as it is to count points using the WW app. Here you get a greater amount of data and can track your macro and micro nutrient.

The only thing I like about the meetings is being accountable to weigh in each week in front of another person. I was struggling to find the motivation to lose weight and attending WW meetings to weigh in was what got me motivated. Now that I have been doing this for months and have changed my habits I don't really need that and could self motivate. They are just all about profits. Every chance they get they spruik products: food, magazines, scales, books.

I don't really think WW promotes such a healthy diet. They are always promoting their "diet food" products, pretty much every recipe uses a "diet" product with the WW brand. While I don't think there is wrong with including some of these products in a diet occasionally relying on them for every meal just isn't normal.

If you decided to track here though it is essential that you count the calories in all your fruits and vegetables. The calories in them really adds up. Following the WW points system you have a huge calorie deficit built in so that even after consuming all your points and fruit/veg you still have a deficit. MPF is not set up for that so you 100% have to log it or you could blow your entire deficit.

Dnarules

AprilJ10 wrote: »

So I just signed up for weight watchers, I have about 30 pounds to lose. I think i'm going to do weight watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal. I find the points to be cumbersome, but I like what weight watchers promotes, healthy eating and recipes. I also like the idea of the weekly meetings. Fruits and veggies also have no points! I've already stocked the fridge and freezer with fresh fruit and veggies. I have tried to diet a few times before lose a few pounds then go back to eating too much. This time I really need to stick with it for health reasons if nothing else. Would love any feedback from others on their experience with Weight Watchers.

Just remember that 0 points doesn't mean you can have as much as you want. You still need to moderate them, especially the fruit. We were told to keep it at 5 servings of fruits and veggies. After that, you should track them.

Dariasen

I lost with WWs 8 years ago. I tried again a few months ago and started gaining on the new system without the usual 0point fruit/veggie overindulgence. The new calculations just weren't working for me. Changed to MFP and realized CICO is just a larger point system (don't know why it took me so long).

I found the meetings did help keep me accountable. Having a good leader and members make all the difference. My first leader would have us over for potlucks to challenge us to make healthy dishes to share, invite us out for group dinners to help us make better choices, have group walks after the meetings. The other one I had just pushed WWs products and was no help at all.

joolieb1

WW is an effective programme that can work but I changed to MFP as I wanted to understand more about food and calories so I could feel in control and educate myself. Free items are not zero calorie so I prefer to include fruit and vegetables into my diet knowing what they represent rather than as a zero food. Many of the WW principles are good but I didn't want to pay WW when I was doing it for myself. I get loads of encouragement from the forum and friends here too. I found the WW leader wasn't much help when I was doing all they asked and stuck on weight loss, just said they didn't know why I wasn't losing

kshama2001

kyrannosaurus wrote: »

I am a current WW member (attending meetings). I recently tried to quit but they offered me a free month so I am still going.

I don't track points. It's just as complicated to count calories here as it is to count points using the WW app. Here you get a greater amount of data and can track your macro and micro nutrient.

The only thing I like about the meetings is being accountable to weigh in each week in front of another person. I was struggling to find the motivation to lose weight and attending WW meetings to weigh in was what got me motivated. Now that I have been doing this for months and have changed my habits I don't really need that and could self motivate. They are just all about profits. Every chance they get they spruik products: food, magazines, scales, books.

I don't really think WW promotes such a healthy diet. They are always promoting their "diet food" products, pretty much every recipe uses a "diet" product with the WW brand. While I don't think there is wrong with including some of these products in a diet occasionally, relying on them for every meal just isn't normal.

If you decided to track here though it is essential that you count the calories in all your fruits and vegetables. The calories in them really adds up. Following the WW points system you have a huge calorie deficit built in so that even after consuming all your points and fruit/veg you still have a deficit. MPF is not set up for that so you 100% have to log it or you could blow your entire deficit.

I belonged to WW in the 90s. I worked at a college and we met on campus. It was a good group with good leaders. I too liked the accountability of a weekly weigh in front of other people, but I don't seem to need that now. (I appreciate that this can be very helpful.)

I drank quite heavily at the time and WW brought instant awareness to all those empty calories.

spatulamom

Alatariel75 wrote: »

I was on WW for years and years and years. I found that every time they updated their program, it was less effective.

Yes! This is exactly how I've felt about the last few years of changes. I was very successful when they had the Flex Points program and you had to 'bank points' (as opposed to getting a week's worth at once). I did meet some awesome ladies in an email group and we're still friends 13 years later. So I've taken that with me - even though I'm not a fan of the program anymore. I do get plenty of great recipes fro WW sites, though.

Snugglebutt2014

I have literally just joined WW (like 4 days ago).
I used to go, when they had the old points system, and lost 2.5 stone but I stopped thinking I could do it myself from then on and didn't feel the need to pay for them to tell me what I already knew.
Life took over and slowly but surely I have got back to where I was when I initially started WW!
So I came on here, thinking I would try MFP instead to lose weight.
It hasn't worked and I am still floating around the same weight. I may lose half a stone, but then I put it on just as quick.
My take on it all, having tried them both, is the MFP is better for tracking calories and for macro and micro nutrients. Don't get suckered into the whole zero points for fruit with WW's!!! They are not zero, as MFP will show you when you log fruit down.
I have found though that for me personally that being held accountable is my motivation and that being a part of a group makes me feel VERY competitive, so that is where WW really helps me.
I am now going to do a mixture of the two.
I am going to log my Cals on MFP (as well as WW, but I would trust MFP more!) but I shall go along to the WW meetings so that I gain that competitive edge I so desperately need - I am hoping this will help me to get back in track!!!
It is a pity that MFP don't do group meetings!!

Snugglebutt2014

Ok so here is something to prove the point...
This morning I have had so far some strawberries and a banana.
I have logged these on to WW and so far I have used none of my 31 Pro Points I am allowed for the day... Whoooooopppp!
I have logged them on to MFP and so far I have used 127 Cals of my daily 1200 allowance... Booooooo!
Somehow I have to burn off those 127 calories (along with everything else I eat today), but if I continued to eat nothing but bananas today then WW would tell me I have eaten nothing and I still would have my 31 Pro Points to use....
I think I shall stick to doing both as mentioned in my previous post.

barbecuesauce

Snugglebutt2014 wrote: »

Ok so here is something to prove the point...
This morning I have had so far some strawberries and a banana.
I have logged these on to WW and so far I have used none of my 31 Pro Points I am allowed for the day... Whoooooopppp!
I have logged them on to MFP and so far I have used 127 Cals of my daily 1200 allowance... Booooooo!
Somehow I have to burn off those 127 calories (along with everything else I eat today), but if I continued to eat nothing but bananas today then WW would tell me I have eaten nothing and I still would have my 31 Pro Points to use....
I think I shall stick to doing both as mentioned in my previous post.

If I did no exercise at all, about 22 bananas (assuming 100 calories) per day would put on a pound per week. I don't know if I would feel full on 22 bananas and nothing else.

Snugglebutt2014

barbecuesauce wrote: »

If I did no exercise at all, about 22 bananas (assuming 100 calories) per day would put on a pound per week. I don't know if I would feel full on 22 bananas and nothing else.

If I ate 22 bananas a day I would go off them quite rapidly! Lol. But it does emphasise the point that fruit is not as 'pro point free' as WW says.

booksandchocolate12

SLLRunner wrote: »

AprilJ10 wrote: »

So I just signed up for weight watchers, I have about 30 pounds to lose. I think i'm going to do weight watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal. I find the points to be cumbersome, but I like what weight watchers promotes, healthy eating and recipes. I also like the idea of the weekly meetings. Fruits and veggies also have no points! I've already stocked the fridge and freezer with fresh fruit and veggies. I have tried to diet a few times before lose a few pounds then go back to eating too much. This time I really need to stick with it for health reasons if nothing else. Would love any feedback from others on their experience with Weight Watchers.

If Weight Watchers will help you stay in a calorie deficit, that's wonderful. However, keep in mind that fruits and vegetables contain calories too and eating too much of anything can lead to a surplus of food resulting in weight gain, or at least maintenance.

Good luck.

^^This.

You can't combine programs. You're either doing WW with 0 point fruits and veggies or you're doing MFP where you count calories for everything.

If you find points cumbersome, I don't know why you just don't stick to MFP. But if you do stick with WW, remember that "zero points" doesn't mean "free". Fruits and veggies are to be eaten to satisfaction, not gluttony. I've seen too many people say that WW doesn't work, only to find out they were gorging themselves on watermelon and bananas because, hey, they're "free".

In weight loss, as in life, you do need a modicum of common sense to survive.

Good luck!

AprilJ10

I was told at the WW watchers meeting that fruit and veggies aren't necessarily freebies, but to be eaten in moderation. I am doing both this and WW, I like the group meetings and being accountable to weigh in each week, plus Weight Watchers has some great meal ideas. I think both will work nicely together. I am logging my fruit and veggies however, but I don't eat enough to really dig into my 1200 calories a day so I am not worried. If I am hungry though I reach for some fruit or sweet peppers, etc. to munch on. So far so good. I weigh in again tonight and hopefully I'm down a pound!

Grammie4VT

I am a WW member - currently attending meetings. I count WW pp, but I also count calories here on MFP. Some days I have PP left over, but have used all of my calories.

NinaSharp

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

AprilJ10 wrote: »

So I just signed up for weight watchers, I have about 30 pounds to lose. I think i'm going to do weight watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal. I find the points to be cumbersome, but I like what weight watchers promotes, healthy eating and recipes. I also like the idea of the weekly meetings. Fruits and veggies also have no points! I've already stocked the fridge and freezer with fresh fruit and veggies. I have tried to diet a few times before lose a few pounds then go back to eating too much. This time I really need to stick with it for health reasons if nothing else. Would love any feedback from others on their experience with Weight Watchers.

If Weight Watchers will help you stay in a calorie deficit, that's wonderful. However, keep in mind that fruits and vegetables contain calories too and eating too much of anything can lead to a surplus of food resulting in weight gain, or at least maintenance.

Good luck.

^^This.

You can't combine programs. You're either doing WW with 0 point fruits and veggies or you're doing MFP where you count calories for everything.

If you find points cumbersome, I don't know why you just don't stick to MFP. But if you do stick with WW, remember that "zero points" doesn't mean "free". Fruits and veggies are to be eaten to satisfaction, not gluttony. I've seen too many people say that WW doesn't work, only to find out they were gorging themselves on watermelon and bananas because, hey, they're "free".

In weight loss, as in life, you do need a modicum of common sense to survive.

Good luck!

This! I struggled with doing both for about two weeks and then dropped WW. The "Freebies" got to me. I consulted a few people on here and realized I was eating too much fruit, but then I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that the zero points when a banana costs me 110 calories as opposed to a peach which is like 45.

Mischievous_Rascal

Snugglebutt2014 wrote: »

I have literally just joined WW (like 4 days ago).
I used to go, when they had the old points system, and lost 2.5 stone but I stopped thinking I could do it myself from then on and didn't feel the need to pay for them to tell me what I already knew.
Life took over and slowly but surely I have got back to where I was when I initially started WW!
So I came on here, thinking I would try MFP instead to lose weight.
It hasn't worked and I am still floating around the same weight. I may lose half a stone, but then I put it on just as quick.
My take on it all, having tried them both, is the MFP is better for tracking calories and for macro and micro nutrients. Don't get suckered into the whole zero points for fruit with WW's!!! They are not zero, as MFP will show you when you log fruit down.
I have found though that for me personally that being held accountable is my motivation and that being a part of a group makes me feel VERY competitive, so that is where WW really helps me.
I am now going to do a mixture of the two.
I am going to log my Cals on MFP (as well as WW, but I would trust MFP more!) but I shall go along to the WW meetings so that I gain that competitive edge I so desperately need - I am hoping this will help me to get back in track!!!
It is a pity that MFP don't do group meetings!!

Snugglebutt2014 wrote: »

Ok so here is something to prove the point...
This morning I have had so far some strawberries and a banana.
I have logged these on to WW and so far I have used none of my 31 Pro Points I am allowed for the day... Whoooooopppp!
I have logged them on to MFP and so far I have used 127 Cals of my daily 1200 allowance... Booooooo!
Somehow I have to burn off those 127 calories (along with everything else I eat today), but if I continued to eat nothing but bananas today then WW would tell me I have eaten nothing and I still would have my 31 Pro Points to use....
I think I shall stick to doing both as mentioned in my previous post.

@Snugglebutt2014, MFP always works - CICO is basic math. If it's not working for you, then you need to do a little tweaking. Try reading and applying the info in this thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

The bolded part from your second post illustrates what I mean about you not quite having the hang of using this site. Unless you're incredibly short or have a medical condition, you'll burn 1200+ calories a day just by being alive. Not a biggie - it took me months to figure it all out, too - but reading the above thread (and all the threads cited in it) will really help.

Best of luck, all!

Rhumax67

My MFP calorie amount is 1200. My first few days on WW, I counted points & calories to compare & my 27 points equaled about 1200 calories. I ate about 3 fruits & at least 4 veggies a day.

I went to WW because I have a friend who has lost close to 100lbs on it & I was impressed & decided to give it a go. But my comparison seems to indicate that either should work. Careful tracking of points or calories is the key & of course MFP is free & that's a big plus. This is only week 2 for me & I've signed up for 3 mo.

dubird

From what I know about WW, it's more focused on eating their products. Yes, they give you information on points for other foods, but they also try to get you to buy their stuff. MFP is free, and you can buy what you want. Plus, MFP seems to do a better job of teaching you HOW to monitor your eating and change your eating habits. If all you do is buy and eat the WW food, if you ever go off it, you may end up gaining some back. I'm not saying WW is bad, it can be effective, but it seems to me that MFP prepares you more for a lifestyle change, which is what you need for weight loss to be long-term.

AprilJ10

I thought the materials my first WW meeting gave me were excellent, great meal ideas to mix and match. I pretty much count calories though not points, so I like myfitnesspal for that.

dubird

AprilJ10 wrote: »

I thought the materials my first WW meeting gave me were excellent, great meal ideas to mix and match. I pretty much count calories though not points, so I like myfitnesspal for that.

And if it works for you, that's great! Everyone's different, and some people benefit from WW. I'm just not one of those people. ^_^;

joolieb1

WW can work for some people and I lost 28 lbs with them but when you don't lose it makes no sense because they say so many foods are zero points and so I ate a lot of fruit while on WW. I prefer to know how many calories are in all food, then I can make wise choices for myself. Plus educationally I did not feel I was learning about food and health at the meetings. I prefer MFP because it is such a mixed group on the Forum but always supportive and my exercise routines are so much stronger because of the encouragement of others. I am losing weight steadily at 2 lb per week so being calorie deficient and being active works and with MFP it is free of charge, no processed products being sold, I choose to eat fresh fruit and vegetables and within my calorie goals too

cindyangotti

I lost the majority of my weight which was 106 pounds on WW. The only reason I quit was my financial situation change drastically. I love both of their programs. I was in a group where several people lost well over 100 pounds so it DOES work IF you follow it. If you don't like counting points have you though about trying their second program... I think it's called Simply Filling. A good friend of mine lost 150 pounds on that plan.

dubird wrote: »

From what I know about WW, it's more focused on eating their products. Yes, they give you information on points for other foods, but they also try to get you to buy their stuff. .

This is so not true.

Also 0 point food is not to be considered "freebies"!!!!

Many people here are very negative towards Weight Watchers. Maybe it's because they do not understand the program.... I don't know but it worked for me and several others who I know personally.

cwolfman13

AprilJ10 wrote: »

So I just signed up for weight watchers, I have about 30 pounds to lose. I think i'm going to do weight watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal. I find the points to be cumbersome, but I like what weight watchers promotes, healthy eating and recipes. I also like the idea of the weekly meetings. Fruits and veggies also have no points! I've already stocked the fridge and freezer with fresh fruit and veggies. I have tried to diet a few times before lose a few pounds then go back to eating too much. This time I really need to stick with it for health reasons if nothing else. Would love any feedback from others on their experience with Weight Watchers.

they may not have points, but they sure as *kitten* have calories...if you're calorie counting, you need to count them anyways so I really don't see how no points really translates to anything beneficial. WW makes up for "free" foods by inflating the points on other food items.

TeaBea

There is at least one Weight Watchers group here, maybe they can help you. As for "Free" calorie items. I've always been told that your daily points are less calories than the calories MFP typically gives, so if you eat "free" foods, it kind of averages itself out anyway.

Weight Watchers: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/718-weight-watchers-points-plus

dubird

cindyangotti wrote: »

I lost the majority of my weight which was 106 pounds on WW. The only reason I quit was my financial situation change drastically. I love both of their programs. I was in a group where several people lost well over 100 pounds so it DOES work IF you follow it. If you don't like counting points have you though about trying their second program... I think it's called Simply Filling. A good friend of mine lost 150 pounds on that plan.

dubird wrote: »

From what I know about WW, it's more focused on eating their products. Yes, they give you information on points for other foods, but they also try to get you to buy their stuff. .

This is so not true.

Also 0 point food is not to be considered "freebies"!!!!

Many people here are very negative towards Weight Watchers. Maybe it's because they do not understand the program.... I don't know but it worked for me and several others who I know personally.

I'm not trying to discourage someone from doing WW if it works for them, I'm just saying of the two, I'm happy sticking with MFP. I've looked into WW, and I know my mom tried for a while. It didn't work for her and was too expensive for me to even try it. That's why I said 'from what I know'. I've also tried some of their meals that you can get at the grocery store, and didn't find one that I liked. At all. But then, I'm very picky about tastes, so take that with a grain of salt!

I will say that my mom did find a program at the local hospital that was very very similar to WW. It focused less on points and more on how to adjust your eating habits and keep watch on you calories and nutrition. I guess it was a hybrid of WW and MFP from how she described it, but I have no idea if that's something other hospitals do.

cindyangotti

It is expensive currently at $45 a month which is why I had to quit. It sucked because I was so close to my goal too. I then gained some back but now with MFP I am almost to goal again. I did learn a lot about food with WW. Combine that with what I learned from MFP I feel quite knowledgeable about my nutrition. Both WW and MFP changed my life.

AprilJ10

I am going to continue with weight watchers and this, as I lost 3.2 pounds my first week on WW and tracking as well!

Jomalone2

I made lifetime about 2 years ago and have maintained every since. I did MFP faithfully (never missed a day) for over 365 days and only lost about 10 pounds. When I switched to WW the weight finally started coming off. So it DOES work and I didn't feel like I was starving myself like I did on MFP. I say at least give it a try - stick with it long enough to know if it works for you or not. Good luck.

maxit

I did WW for 9 months last year - it worked great. The point "allowance" is actually a few (or more) hundred calories below what MFP would set for moderate weight loss - this is why the 0 points for most fruit and vegetables works for most people. The literature notes that 0 points does not mean eat 22 bananas (lol) and if they are made into a smoothie, you put them into WW version of recipe builder and lo and behold, a smoothy has points. I was online only - allergic to meetings - and found it very helpful. Counting calories in the past just made me depressed at how hungry I was on what I had as my allotment. With WW, I developed portion control. I double tracked with MFP for a few months before I stopped WW - mostly because I started focusing on protein and fat intake (easy to not get enough of either on WW) when I started lifting weights. Then I dropped WW - end of October last year. So, OP, try it and see what you think. It's not impossible to track in two places - but if you are not following the WW plan either with the points plan or that other one they have (simply filling? I forget) then I wouldn't think it would be worth it to pay them for the privilege of weigh ins.